British Museum in London

20 December 2012

The weather forecasted for this day was rain and more rain. So, it was another “good” day to go visit a museum. The British Museum in London is interesting and I looked forward to the visit even though I have been here in 2010. This time round, we have more time to view the exhibits at a more leisurely pace.

Once again, the "must-not-miss" items in our list were:

a. Crystal Skull – Sam would like to see this.

b. Rosetta Stone - Rosetta Stone with carved text made up of three translations of a single passage. 

c. Elgin Marbles - these were originally part of the Parthenon and other buildings on the Acropolis of Athens.

d. Eqyptian mummies

Tip: I downloaded this app “Vusiem for British Museum” from the google playstore which I used to help suggest and locate the most interesting pieces to see.

I personally like the Assyrian and Egyptian exhibits the most. The ancient sculptures and cultures, with the still unexplained mysteries and origins in some cases are fascinating.

Hieroglyph Eqyptian writings on a sarcophagus – each symbol represents a sound, not a meaning unlike Chinese writings where symbols represents an object or meaning.

Stone scarab beetle – the beetles were featured in the movie “The Mummy”.

This is not the Sphinx, though it looked like it. Limestone statue of one of Egyptian pharaohs.

Fragment that was from the beard of the Sphinx in Egypt.

Part of a large wall carvings showing the “Lion Hunt” in the Assyrian section of the museum.

Part of the large wall sculpture showing Assyrians killing the attacking lion.

What’s fascinating about this Egyptian stone sculpture is the top part. The Circle with wings (Winged Sun-disk) symbol had been associated with many different interpretations and beliefs, including one that ancient spacecraft (aliens) visited Earth in our ancient past. Still a mystery.

Roman - Life-size marble sculpture of Aphrodite (Venus) taking her bath.

The Greek section

Elgin Marbles – taken from the Parthenon in Greece.

Part of the Parthenon marbles depicting mythical war between the Centaur vs Lapiths. Centaur is half man half horse.

Spartans!

How to fight in this metal armour footwear? The soldiers probably throw this away and just wear scandals.

The section featuring time pieces was interesting. Human ingenuity at work with exhibits showing the various tools invented to keep good time.

Rolling ball clock. Ball travels along a zigzag path from higher to lower. When it reaches the end, the winding is reversed somehow and the incline shifts, causing the ball to reverse it direction and goes back again. Probably not very accurate.

The last photo shows the lobby area of the museum. Nice roof structure.